Hi I bought these bluebells from a farmers market. They were labelled as English but seem to have characteristics of Spanish as well. Are they hybrids?
They look hybrid to me too. The defining characteristic is the colour of the pollen, which is creamy white in the native English bluebell - more info here
Dove- yes they do seem to have creamy white pollen which is why I was confused. Shame if they are hybrids. I will take them out once they have started to die down. Is there anywhere you can buy proper native bluebells from? The whole street seems to have either spanish or hybrids so maybe its a bad idea anyway.
As bulbs from reputable bulb suppliers is probably your best bet. You only need to establish a handful - if they are happy they'll self seed quite prolifically.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
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They look hybrid to me. This is a photo of the native bluebell - also found in parts of France and Belgium:-
As you can see, the flower stem is arched and all the bells hang to one side and are smaller and a more intense blue.
Last edited: 03 May 2017 10:24:48
They look hybrid to me too. The defining characteristic is the colour of the pollen, which is creamy white in the native English bluebell - more info here
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants-and-fungi/woodland-wildflowers/identify-native-bluebell/
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dove- yes they do seem to have creamy white pollen which is why I was confused. Shame if they are hybrids. I will take them out once they have started to die down. Is there anywhere you can buy proper native bluebells from? The whole street seems to have either spanish or hybrids so maybe its a bad idea anyway.
As bulbs from reputable bulb suppliers is probably your best bet. You only need to establish a handful - if they are happy they'll self seed quite prolifically.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Mine all come from Cambo estate in Fife a well known and reliable distributor
camboestate.com. Varieties
A A Milne
https://paddockplants.co.uk/en/perennials/470-hyacinthoides-non-scripta.html
Just ordered some from here. Never tried them before but hopefully no problems.
Lily- that link does not work by the way.
Last edited: 03 May 2017 12:57:35
Sorry, try this one
cambosnowdrops.com
A A Milne
http://cambosnowdrops.com
There you go lily
I get all my native British wildflowers from here: www.wildflowers.uk
Plug plants an excellent good strong size and seed too.